Another Look At Recruiting Class

Today's Daily Dartmouth has an overview of the incoming football recruiting class. There's not much new in the story, but it does have an honest quote from offensive coordinator Mike Hodgson that should be taken to heart by every newspaper writer, blogger, message board writer and fan. Hodgson says:

“You never know until they get here how good they’re going to be. You get some surprises.”

Left unsaid: Those surprises cut both ways.

Today's Daily D also has a look back at the undefeated 1996 football team that won Dartmouth's most recent Ivy League title.

If you watched the NCAA men's Division I lacrosse championship game between Syracuse and Johns Hopkins, you kept hearing a familiar name. One of Hopkins' stars was Paul Rabil, brother of former Dartmouth football co-captain Mike Rabil '06. At one point, one of the ESPN announcers actually called the Hopkins All-American, "The great Paul Rabil." ... Rabil scored six goals, one short of the NCAA championship record, in a John Hopkins' loss. Find his bio and a head shot here.

The Shreveport Times has a quick Q&A with SEC commissioner Mike Slive, Dartmouth class of '62. ... The SEC has apparently been good for Slive because if you read the story you'll learn he's a good 10 years younger than he should be ;-)

Sad news out of Florida where former Cornell and Tampa Bay Bucs lineman Tom McHale was found dead at age 45. The St. Petersburg Times has a story.

Fresh from a tour of the Middle East with several high-profile coaches, Yale coach Jack Siedlecki and the others met with President Bush. Find a photo here.

There's more talk about abandoning redshirts and giving college football players five years of eligibility as this ESPN.com story writes. From the story:

NCAA statistics indicate that Division I-A college football players take an average of 4.7 years to graduate ...

And:

Several coaches said the five-year eligibility plan would do away with "redshirt blues" that often affect young players who redshirt early in their careers but don't have a chance to compete in games.

Note to Ivy Leaguers: Go ahead and read the story but don't get your hopes up. It will never happen in the Ancient Eight. Never.

Next in a series of recruiting lists: Dartmouth women's basketball.

• Sasha Dosenko, 6-3 forward, Kyiv, Ukraine (Kent School)
• Lalea Moses, 6-1 forward, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Frederick Douglas Academy)
• Bethany Morrison, 5-8 guard, Little Rock, Ark. (Pulaski Academy)